I accompanied my stepdaughter to Tacoma WA for her state licensing exam and we stayed at the Fife Travelodge, attracted by its low price. We should have been paid to stay there! We arrived near midnight and should have taken the sight of a man, dressed only in his underwear and standing in the doorway of a neighboring unit, as our first clue to leave. We were exhausted however, so decided to just get in our room and lock the door. On entering the room, we were immediately grossed out by the lack of cleanliness and the overwhelming odor. Granted, we had asked for a smoking room, but never in nearly 60 years have I experienced such an odor in a motel room. We also found that the bathroom was musty and poorly cleaned. It was as if we had displaced a crusty old man for the evening. I went to wash my hands and a swarm of fruit flies came out of the drain, proceeding to flit around us, land on our cups, etc throughout the night. The rug was so dirty we kept our shoes on. The dingey old curtain did not fully close and also had several smears of a white mystery substance on them. At this point, I went to call the manager to complain. The phone did not work. We were literally afraid to venture into the dark, for the entire length of the complex, to complain in person. At this point, I was so freaked out I wanted a smoke. My step daughter insisted that I just blow the smoke out the window rather than go outside. Found that the window was unlocked and that the immediate surroundings were totally dark, bordering on what appeared to be some sort of industrial storage yard. Our room was on the ground floor. Standing by the screen, I could have been attacked at any moment and with no notice. We both felt totally insecure but too tired and scared to go elsewhere at this point. We turned on the TV for a distraction. Found that it, too, did not function. It would repeatedly turn off after just a minute of operation. Now about 2am, we armed ourselves with our cell phones and some blunt objects and decided to go to bed. Found that the linens didnt appear to be freshly changed, the bed was old and uncomfortable, and the pillows were so smelly and lumpy that we hesitated to even use them. My stepdaughter had to get up at 6 to prepare for the test though so we both tried to sleep for a few hours, albeit grossed out and scared. The next morning, my step daughter bit the bullet and used the unclean shower. Went to use the in room hairdryer. Found that it was both crusted with a grimy film and the plug had been mangled beyond use. Went to complain to the morning desk person and told her of our issues. She asked why we did not immediately complain last night and I explained that we were truly too exhausted and scared to do that, and that things had gotten progressively more concerning as the night progressed. She did offer us a different room for the rest of our stay but I declined this as my stepdaughter was already completely frazzled and stressed out before her very important exam. I went back to the desk later in the morning and spoke to Shawn, the general manager. Offered him a written list of our issues, but he refused saying he had "already heard it all". He had someone else to blame on every issue. He offered no rebate or future comp room, but then added "When you come back next time, speak directly to me". Rest assured, there will be no "next time" at the Fife Travelodge for us.
*As there seems to be quite a mixture of opinion on this facility, I am guessing that cleanliness and quality must vary greatly from one room to the next. I did run into a retired Army major who said she is a regular customer and always happy with her room. I do not know why our experience was so abysmally different. We really are not overly critical, easily scared or germophobic. But this was, as I said, The Absolute Worst!

Our experience was a very good one.
Good price for nice clean room, fridge, small micro, coffee maker, tables on each side
of the bed each with lamps, a desk, internet access, large screen tv with premium channels,
bathroom stone-tiled with good shower head/pressure/drainage (sink separate from bathroom),
clean towels/shower curtain, smells, etc.
no complaints inside, nor for the lobby/public internet computer ~
breakfast pretty good: juices, breads, cereal, coffee, etc.
no problem during our stay with unsavory people, parking lot, smokers, etc.
it is in an unglamorous area near freeway (can be noisey) - lots of truckers & nothing
much around to walk to, but did not feel unsafe at all ...

My husband and I stayed one night while in town for a competition. The first thing we noticed was the smell of pee in the lobby. The room was ok, stains on the walls and quite grimy, but that's expected for the price. The biggest issue for us was the people hanging out in the walkway, smoking cigarettes right next to the 'no smoking within walkway or near building' signs. There were obvious drug deals going on in the parking lot, leaving their doors open with multiple people (sleeping kids) hanging out in the room. I made my husband walk me to my car at night. There was lots of noise late into the night, past midnight. Overall, even for the cheap price, I wouldnt recommend staying here. Feeling safe is worth a few more dollars.

I stayed at a number of locations in Seattle/Tacoma until I found this property I have now been staying here for years.....whenever I am in the area. The manager, Shaun (sp) is great and takes care of his customers. From the second day I stayed here I was impressed that he ALWAYS remembered me and my first name. Definitely a great value for the price!